BITTER BEGINNINGS

Who are you?" we said in unison. 

His voice was deep. That combined with his enormous stature and piercing gaze made him give off an intimidating vibe.

 " I should be the one that's asking that question" he said, his tone filled with disbelief.

 I was confused. What's happening? What was he doing here? Maybe I should introduce myself first. He’s probably Johnnys friend and didn’t expect to see a girl in the room.

"Uh, I'm Johnnys roommate, Sarang." I said as I extended my hand as a greeting, trying to be polite.

"Okay, but what are you doing here?" he said while glancing at my hand and then back to me, leaving my arm awkwardly held out in front of me.

"What do you mean by what am I doing here, this is my room from now on. By the way I didn't get your name? " I said with now a confused face. 

"I'm Lucas and this isn’t Johnny's room,
 it's my room"  he stated, well almost shouted. I really couldn’t tell with how angrily he was staring at me.

"What?! " I screamed unintentionally.

"Yeah, this is not Johnny's room and I'm more than sure that it's not your room." he continued while narrowing his eyes at me, and I was totally confused, still struggling to wrap my head around what was going on.

I stood up from the bed and tried explaining myself to him,
 "But Johnny brought me here, telling me that it's my room and he left to bring the rest of my things and-" 
"Listen, I don't care about your things or what Johnny told you, but I need you to leave" he said cutting me off while I was talking.

The audacity of this guy I swear.

"Why would I leave, would you even let me finish what I was trying to say-"

He walked past me, not even listening to what I had to say.

"What the hell is this? " he yelled all of a sudden, pointing at my backpack which was on the bed, and then motioning to the suitcases that were placed at the back of the room.
"How can you keep your stuff on my bed without my permission? You didn't even bother asking whose bed is this and just do whatever you want-"

It’s just a backpack that was on his bed! Why is he acting like such a drama queen?!  I’ve had enough of this jerk yelling at me.

"Will you calm down for a second, I didn't know that it was your bed, Johnny told me-" 

He cut me off again.

"Johnny talks a lotta bull, but what about you, what kinda bull are you on ?"

"What do you mean by I’m speaking bull, you're the one whose cooking up bull, how do I even believe that this is your room, prove it to me." I said almost screaming. 

"Why should I prove that this is my room to you, why don't you prove that it's your room? " he said almost screaming too. 

And just as we were going to tear eachothers heads off, a voice emerged from the entrance,

"You wanna eat the Jjajjangmyeon now or la-"

Johnny saw both of us standing face to face with each other "Oh, so you guys already met, that's cool, less awkward for me" he said in a voice as nonchalant as he could muster. 

"Johnny Suh!!!" I screamed while I walked toward him with my fists all clenched up. 

"Hyung, what's happening here! " Lucas said equally furious. 

"What do you mean by what's happening Lucas" Johnny said smiling, as if nothing were wrong in the world.

"She's your roommate, didn't I tell you? " he continued. 
Both of our eyes widened in shock.

“John, I swear to god, do not play games with me. Didn't you say this is my room, that we'll be staying here together temporarily.”

"I did tell you this is your room, but I didn't tell you that I'm your roommate " Johnny replied casually.

It’s true that he didn’t mention that he’s my roommate, but how can he expect me to live with a total stranger. And I can’t even speak Korean that well. What has Johnny gotten me into? 

Lucas paced up and down the room, running his hand through his hair, face filled with annoyance. He finally stopped in front of Johnny and held him by the collar of his shirt.
"Johnny ! Is this some kind of joke. How can you bring someone here and say that she's my roommate" Lucas exclaimed.

"Woah, woah, woah! Calm down bro” " Johnny said, putting his hands up in the air , “No need to get physical. Let me explain.”

Lucas let out a sigh “Go ahead” . He loosened his grip over Johnnys shirt and let him go.

"Sarang, I know you're confused, but this isn’t my room. I live on the 5th floor with 4 other guys. You have to stay here with Lucas. Please try to understand, I've been a little tied up with my work, so I couldn't find a better place.”

“How about you come to this room and Lucas can go to your room ?” I asked, trying to find a solution for this mess.
“ That’s not possible. I have the same schedule as the other guys in my dorm so I can’t.” Johnny said.

"Plus Ten would kill you if he found out you were staying in his room" Lucas stated. Johnny nodded.

“Ten ? Like the number ?” I asked.

“Yes. Ten, the number.” Lucas said while rolling his eyes, clearly unamused at my question, “He’s my roommate.”
I looked to Johnny, for an explanation.

"Yeah, this is Tens room. He said he had to go to Thailand for a while. So I thought it'd be okay if you'd stay here."

"Define ‘while’ ."

"He didn't really specify it exactly. He just said he'd be back after two or three months."

I didn't know what to say. I nodded blankly. Johnny looked to my face trying to read my expressions. I was still upset and unsure. I looked around the room while tapping my foot onto the hard floor. Everyone was silent. Lucas sat down onto his bed, head in his hands, mind in deep thought. Minutes passed by without a word from any of us. Johnny read the uncomfortable atmosphere in the room and spoke up again.

"Sarang, you told me on such short notice that you'll be coming to Korea. I did the best I could to find a nice place. But how could you stay alone in a city as big and busy as Seoul. I thought it'd be better for you to stay here, so you're nearby me. Your parents wouldn't have to worry about your safety. I'll just be a few floors away from you. So don't worry.  It's  just a matter of time before your University starts. You'll be gone before you know it."

Johnny had a point. It might be dangerous for me to stay alone elsewhere. And he did arrange a place to stay in just a few days after I informed him that I’d be coming to Seoul. And anyways Johnny knows this guy. He cant be that bad right? Plus it is just for a few weeks. They’ll probably be training for the whole day anyway. 

“What about me? ” Lucas interjected, his deep voice now breaking the silence of the room, “Why do I have to go through this? Does Ten even know about this? Also what about manager hyung?”

Johnny took a deep breath, getting ready to answer all the questions Lucas threw at him,

“Lucas, Sarang is like a sister to me. I’ve known her since we were little kids. After Sarang decided she’d study in Seoul, her family called me. They’ve never sent her so far away from home by herself. Please be a little understanding. I’ll take care of Ten later. And I’ve already talked to manager hyung, it took days of begging him for him to finally agree. Don’t make me have to beg you too.”

Lucas closed his eyes and threw his head back, 

“Fine”.

After that long heated discussion, me and Johnny went up to his room to have dinner.

Room number 518.

It was way bigger than Lucas’ room. There were 4 bedrooms I think. I was too tired and hungry to look around. Johnny had a room all to himself. It wasn’t too big or too small. Just enough for one person. But it felt lowkey suffocating cause of how messy it was. Posters scattered all over the wall. A pile of used clothes on a chair to the corner of the room. The table covered in miscellaneous things.

We sat down on his bed and ate the Jjajjangmyeon. It really was to die for.

“So do you have some kind of beef with that Ten guy?”

Johnny laughed, he waved his hands in front of him.

“No, it’s nothing like that. He’s a bit of a clean freak. And well, you know me.” He said, gesturing around the room.

The door of Johnnys room swung open. A trainee who lived in this dorm I assume. He was looking into his bowl of takeout noodles as he entered the room, fiddling with his chopsticks, about to take a bite, before asking

“Is there any kimch-”

He stopped once he saw me in the room.

“I’ll come back later” He blurted out, as he took a step back and was about to close the door on his way out.

“Mark! Wait! 
Come inside. Eat with us!” Johnny invited.

 So this is Mark. The same guy who called Johnny earlier.

Mark grabbed a chair that was at Johnnys desk and dragged it to near the bed. He sat and looked at Johnny, his eyes almost asking whether it really was okay for him to sit in the room.

“Here’s the kimchi” Johnny handed him a small bowl, then he pointed to me “And this is Sarang, my childhood friend from Chicago. I told you she’d be coming here today, rememeber?” 

“Oh right! You had to leave practice early to go to the airport.” Mark said while nodding to himself, just now recollecting that information.

“And Sarang, this is Mark. He’s from Toronto. He’s training at SM, just like me. He’s like a younger brother to me.”

“Nice to meet you Mark!” I greeted, while smiling at him.

“Nice to meet you too. Johnny mentioned you before. He said you’d be staying in this building for a while.”

“Yeah. I’m actually going to be roommates with Lucas.”

Mark almost choked on his noodles. Johnny looked at him with a weird look. Mark grabbed a bottle of water, and a grin crept upon his face,

“Well, that should be interesting.” 

Ohmygod what is up with this Lucas guy. Why is Mark saying that? I guess I’ll find out for myself, sooner or later.

“We kinda got off on the wrong foot. I thought I was in Johnnys room and I kinda got into an argument with him. But he was being super rude too !” I said.

Johnny chuckled “What do you mean ‘kinda got into an argument’? You guys were all up in each others faces when I entered. Lucas looked so mad.”

 Ok. 

It was a big argument.

Lucas probably hates me. 

He had to find out that we’d be roommates, the same instant that I did. And I looked like an idiot saying that it was Johnnys room. It’s going to be so awkward now. How will I manage to stay in the same room as Lucas for the next few weeks ? 

“Don’t worry. He has an intimidating aura at first, but he’s actually a pretty nice guy. Really friendly and funny too.” Mark said, trying to reassure me about this whole living situation.

I nodded, still doubtful of how I’d face him after what happened earlier.

“Maybe you should apologize for what happened earlier. He’d apologize too. You could come to a truce.” Johnny suggested.

That sounds like a good idea. It’s better to put that behind and try to be nice to each other.

During the rest of dinner we talked about various things. Mark told me about how he missed Toronto. Johnny shared some childhood memories of us from when we were in Chicago. Mark also mentioned how me, him and Lucas were all the same age, and that we would get along well. I doubt that, but we’ll see. After what seemed like an hour long chat, I finally headed down to my new room.

Lucas, I’m sorry about what happened earlier. It was a huge misunderstanding. I hope we can put it behind us and be friendly for the rest of my stay here.

I repeated what I had to say in my head for a couple times.I didn’t want the room to be filled with awkward silence after I enter.)

314.

I took the extra keys to the room that Johnny gave me. I took a deep breath before I started unlocking the door. I stepped inside and looked to the left of the room, where Lucas’ bed was.

Lucas was there.

A girl was too.

Sitting in his lap.

He was hugging her from behind. 

Head on her shoulder.

Holy . I don’t think I’m supposed to be seeing this. 

I froze. It felt like minutes of standing there, but it was just a second. The unknown girl looked up and noticed me. A puzzled look was on her face.

Sarang run. Run right now. Get out of here. My body wasn’t listening to me. I stood there, still frozen. I wanted to disappear.

Lucas mumbled something along the lines of Babe what’s wrong, before he lifted his head and noticed me. His soft expression quickly turned into an a furious one. The girl stood up and looked to Lucas. Lucas stood up too, his enraged gaze not leaving me.

I thought he shouted at me earlier. But that was nothing compared to the deafening volume at which he now yelled out,

“CAN’T YOU ING KNOCK?”

My body instinctively took a step back.

In this moment he looked extremely frightening/scary.

I screwed up again.

I muttered an apology, and scurried out of the room as fast as I could.